We’ll be here all day and through the night keeping track of all the latest movement in the 2009 draft as well as keeping you up to date on the latest rumors we’re hearing from around the league.

If you are not able to watch the draft tonight, we invite you to spend the evening with us, as we’ll be keeping a live draft board going pick by pick, as well as sharing our thoughts on the proceedings in Madison Square Theater as they happen.

11:15 We’re done for the night here. We’ll be back tomorrow to recap everything. Stay tuned.

10:25 Cleveland locks up the 2nd round with Christian Eyenga? This is an insane pick. Eyenga put his name into this draft hoping not to get picked period, and now he goes in the first round? Over DeJuan Blair and Sam Young? Wow. It looks like Eyenga’s plan to avoid the first round salary scale definitely backfired.

10:12 It looks like Denver traded for another first rounder from Minnesota, and they decided to take Wayne Ellington. Now New York is on the board, with the pick they got from the Lakers. Will they take McClinton? Or maybe DeJuan Blair?

10:08 Some people give you bad information year after year…some people don’t. It’s nice to add a couple more correct picks to the tally here at the end of the first round.

10:02 Nope, Chicago goes with Taj Gibson, which is what we predicted on our mock draft. Good advance scouting by DraftExpress I guess.

Next up is Memphis. Will we go 2/2 and nail it with DeMarre Carroll? Let’s hope so.

10:00 We’re told that Rodrigue Beaubois was traded for B.J. Mullens. Looks like Dallas knew that OKC liked Mullens and was able to force their hand by taking their guy and probably getting a little cash out of them at the same time. Will DeJuan Blair go 26 to Chicago? Seems like a no-brainer of a pick.

We got bad information on Calathes I guess. Or maybe they just couldn’t pass up Mullens’ upside.

9:47 Casspi it is…and wow what an ovation the pick gets here in Madison Square Theater! There are tons of Jews and Israelis here in attendance waiving the Israeli flag…this is really a big moment for Israeli basketball, getting their first ever player in the NBA. Look for Casspi to come over right away. And hey, that’s who we had at 23…

9:42 A couple of surprises here, as things start to get a little bit crazy. New Orleans picks Darren Collison, which is certainly something that no one really saw coming. Then Portland picks Victor Claver, a move we speculated about quite a bit today, but is still a little surprising to see come to fruition. Claver now has a tough choice to make, since he really tried to do everything in his power to fall to the 2nd round, but saw his wishes ignored by Portland. What’s funny is that Claver’s agents saw this one coming all the way, but thought that Portland would possibly wait until the #31 pick to take him.

Sacramento is on the clock now. Do they ignore the medical reports and try to make their team much tougher by picking DeJuan Blair, or do they go with the upside of a B.J. Mullens? Sam Young and Omri Casspi are also legit possibilities here.

9:24Jeff Teague goes to Atlanta over Maynor. We heard Maynor has lots of fans in the 20-22 area, though, so he probably won't be waiting long. Utah we hear likes DeJuan Blair, Toney Douglas and maybe Maynor.

9:20 Lawson goes 18. We're hearing that this pick was traded to Denver...

9:15 Holiday comes off the board in Philadelphia, and the Green Room is officially complete. Good job by the NBA picking the 15 players to participate, for the last one to come off at 17 isn't too shabby at all.

Now the real action starts. As one team told us, 17-30 is going to be a roller coaster. Minnesota can't really keep this pick can they?

9:10James Johnson it is. Holiday is the last player left in the Green Room, and his family doesn't look very happy about that.

Philadelphia is next. We've heard a lot of Eric Maynor here, but Ty Lawson is a very logical pick as well. Will Portland try to make a move for Lawson?

9:09 Chicago is up next. We have them taking James Johnson. Will they go with Jrue Holiday? It seems that might be duplication with Kirk Hinrich, but at this point in the draft, not many players have more upside.

9:05 Another Green Room invite comes off the board in

9:00 Holiday continues to slip, as Phoenix elects to take Earl Clark. We've talked about their need for a long-armed Boris Diaw type, and they got one here. Does this pick go to Golden State in the Biedrins trade, though?

Detroit is up next.

Nice gesture by the NBA letting Brandon Jennings come on stage to shake David Stern's hand. Jennings decided to pull out of the Green Room at the last minute, and a statement to the media was handed out on behalf of his agent Bill Duffy which read:

"Because we do not have a strong grasp of Brandon's draft positions, I've advised that he and his family enjoy this day in a more private setting with the people he loves the most. Brandon Jennings will have a very illustrious career in the NBA, and at the end of the day, that is all that is important."

What's interesting is that Jennings was here in the Garden with his family. We ran into his mom shortly after he was picked. She was obviously ecstatic.

8:55Tyler Hansbrough to Indiana. Another pick we heard being speculated about, but didn't really want to believe. Holiday continues to slip. Ben Howland is probably not very happy.

8:50 More server problems...our sincere apologies. It's been very difficult to avoid the temptation of downing 5 beers in the last 30 minutes while we sorted this out.

-Flynn still hasn't been traded anywhere? Rubio's camp has no idea if they are staying in Minnesota or not. Funny quote from Rubio, after being asked whether he's excited to play for Minnesota, said "I'm excited to play in the NBA."

More hilarious quotes from Rubio, who we're quickly discovering needs to work with a media trainer ASAP:

Clearly Rubio hasn't 100% accepted the fact that he is going to Minnesota it seems.

-Brandon Jennings goes 10, as we talked about potentially happening this afternoon. Surprising to see them pass on Holiday here.

8:21Jordan Hill it is. There goes our mock draft. Holiday is right there on the board for Toronto now…do they take him over DeRozan? That’s a tough decision. It sounded like they were leaning towards Holiday for a while there, but today they seemed to be back on DeRozan.

8:18 Another sort-of-surprise here, as Golden State takes Stephen Curry over Jordan Hill. So much for Monta Ellis’ trade demands, but this could also be a pick for the Suns in the Amare for Biedrins. Curry’s family looks pretty crushed sitting in the Green Room. They definitely wanted to go to the Knicks.

8:10

Jonny Flynn surprisingly went 6th, and now the T'Wolves just drafted two point guards. They must have a trade in place, but its not with the Knicks, since they don't seem to know what is going on.

Sorry about the hiccup with our server there...we're hoping it doesn't happen again.

So far we're 5/5 on the mock. That is pretty unbelievable all things considered. Now is when the action really starts.

7:48

Plenty of material for Bill Simmons' draft blog already. First it took Memphis about 10 minutes to make that pick, and then David Stern choked up twice in a span of three seconds, once while trying to say Memphis and once while trying to pronounce Hasheem Thabeet. We're not off to a great start here.

But at least our mock draft is 2/2.

7:45

By the way, we're sitting so close to the Green Room that we're talking with Terrence Williams' table, and are within spitting distance of Jonny Flynn. Rubio's table looks worried, and Harden's camp looks somewhat relaxed.

Thabeet looks like the pick at 2, since the cameras are converging on him already.

7:40

Rubio's camp doesn't think they are going 3, and Harden's camp has no idea either. Sam Presti does an amazing job at keeping everyone in the dark. This draft seemed a lot more clear 40 minutes ago when Rubio was going 3rd. Everyone in the Green Room is scrambling to figure out what is going on.

No team or agent has any clue what is going to happen. That's the bottom line. Everyone is calling everyone and no one can really say what is going to happen.

7:15

It looks like we need to move Harden into that 3 slot. That's the word here in the Green Room at least. It's really interesting to look around the tables and see who knows where they are going and who doesn't.

Regarding the Amare trade that is being reported, it seems like the Warriors are balking at including the #7 pick. I guess we'll see what happens when that pick comes up. The Suns would sure like to get Curry if he's available.

6:56

Just spoke to Sergio Rodriguez's agent, Bob Myers. He says he was informed that the trade is done. Portland will likely target Victor Claver at 31, although there is some thought that they could be tempted to take him at 22.

6:45

We're hearing that Sacramento and Portland are closing in on a deal that would send Sergio Rodriguez and the #38 pick to Sacramento for #31.

5:45 Update

Plenty of Uncertainty at the Top Still

With just hours to go before the NBA draft officially kicks off, there is still plenty of uncertainty regarding who is going where exactly. Oklahoma City is heavily involved in trade talks for the #3 team, but appears to be asking for too much for the rights to Ricky Rubio.

Minnesota appeared to be playing it cool in regards to Rubio early on, but has emerged as a major suitor for his services this evening, which will make things very interesting leading up to the #3 pick. OKC seems to be asking for Al Jefferson right now…will they settle on Kevin Love?

Right now it appears that Oklahoma City is leaning towards picking Rubio and keeping him as a trading chip to potentially use this summer. A few sources we spoke with mentioned that they still expect Rubio to end up in New York when it’s all said and done.

Oklahoma City is also active in trade talk with Phoenix, with their main target appearing to be Robin Lopez. They are reportedly offering Phoenix their 2010 unprotected pick back in return for Lopez, but that seems like a very high price for the Suns to pay.

Sacramento seems to be leaning towards Tyreke Evans from what we’re hearing, and may have even told him as much.

If Minnesota keeps the pick, it looks very likely that they will take Jonny Flynn with one of those picks, with the other pick likely being used on James Harden. Some people think that DeMar DeRozan could be a target, but that seems far-fetched.

That would leave Golden State with an interesting dilemma at 7—take Jordan Hill or Stephen Curry? It seems like they would lean towards Hill, although this is a tough one to call.

At #8, we might see the unfathomable happen—Stephen Curry available to the Knicks? That would really make for an unforgettable moment in the Garden. Gerald Henderson also appears to be a target here.

At #9, it appears that Toronto will take DeMar DeRozan, if he’s on the board.

That would leave Milwaukee with an interesting choice between Jrue Holiday and Brandon Jennings. All indications are that Holiday has been “their guy” for weeks now since Flynn went out of their range, but Jennings has really come on strong in the last 24 hours, so we may have to wait and see.

We’re receiving some indications that the Dallas Mavericks are still in hot pursuit of Greek-bound Nick Calathes with the #24 pick. Owner Mark Cuban and head coach Rick Carlisle are both fans of the big point guard, and appear to be willing to wait a year until signing him. There is a school of thought that Calathes may be able to get out of his contract with Panathinaikos and play for the Mavs this year already, possibly with a buyout, but we’re not sure of how accurate that is.

This pick makes sense considering what Cuban said the other day about being able to “get the guy we like even at 24” after moving down two spots in the Portland trade. Sacramento likes Calathes at 23, but appears to be leaning in other directions, although that could change.

It deserves mention at least once in this blog that “the Daddy” got traded and will be paired alongside Lebron James. That opens up a huge spot in Phoenix’s frontcourt, and likely pushes Amare Stoudemire back to the center position, where he really thrived playing alongside Shawn Marion, Boris Diaw and Steve Nash in Mike D’Antoni’s super up-tempo offense. Phoenix is clearly going back to their running ways next year, and will now likely target an athletic combo forward in the Diaw/Marion mold that can defend, rebound, pass and get up and down the floor. The most likely candidates appear to be Earl Clark and James Johnson, with Austin Daye being a long-shot at that spot.

There is still some talk that Phoenix will trade Oklahoma City the #14 pick in exchange for the #25 and the Suns’ unprotected 2010 first rounder the Thunder currently own. We have a hard time seeing Sam Presti make that deal, though, especially now that Phoenix decided to dump Shaq for financial considerations. The 2010 draft already looks much stronger than 2009, and Phoenix is one injury away from finding themselves in the lottery next season. We’d be very surprised if that happened.

Portland Moves Up Two Spots

Kevin Pritchard and the Portland front office made an interesting move last night, trading their own pick and two second rounders to Dallas to move up two spots to the #22 pick. Two players they appear to be targeting are Omri Casspi and DeJuan Blair, although it would be a little surprising if Blair was there at 22. The prevailing notion is that Blair would not have lasted past Sacramento at 23, so they at least moved a step in the right direction to acquire him. Casspi is also firmly on their board from what we’re told, as they like his toughness and may feel like they can stash him in Europe for a year or two. It’s not quite clear that Casspi has the same plans.

One team we spoke to mentioned hearing that Portland is now trying to get up to the #17 pick, and that they are continuing to target Ty Lawson. They also hear that Portland will likely take Victor Claver with the #33 pick, if he’s available.

Knicks Trade Fallout

Look for the Knicks to use the #29 pick to select Jack McClinton. They are still exploring their options there, trying to figure out who might be on the board, and McClinton may some suitors a little bit earlier in the first round potentially, but that’s clearly who Mike D’Antoni would like them to pick. They just worked him out a few days ago when they brought Jrue Holiday in. If Tyreke Evans falls to the 8th pick, the two could definitely share the same backcourt, with Evans handling the point guard duties and McClinton slated to defend the opposing team’s smaller guard.

Denver may have come away disappointed not to have acquired the Lakers pick, as they are apparently looking at Marcus Thornton and Darren Collison as two potential draft picks in the late first round. They may be able to acquire either one at #34, but will look to Chicago’s pick at 26, as its rumored to be available.

Crazy Trade Rumors

The fact that we’re hearing these rumors makes them somewhat newsworthy, but considering the timing and nature of draft day, we’re extremely skeptical about the veracity of these reports, so take them with a grain of salt.

-Houston sends Shane Battier and Aaron Brooks to Sacramento for Beno Udrih at the #4 pick. A third team might have to get involved to make the salaries work. Most people around the league believe that Houston is very happy with their team at the moment, and that McGrady is really the only player they are looking to move.

-Plenty of Rondo talk throughout the top 10.

-A complicated three-way trade involving New Jersey, Minnesota and Memphis, which would send Devin Harris to Minnesota, the #5 and #6 picks to Memphis and Ricky Rubio and Craig Smith to New Jersey.

-New Jersey is also heavily shopping Vince Carter around in exchange for expiring contracts. It looks like they could be starting over from scratch, especially if both of these rumored trades go through.

-Portland dangling Greg Oden to try and get into the top 5? A number have teams say they are hearing that, although it could all be coming from the same source. A Trailblazers executive we spoke with emphatically denied that they would even consider trading Oden.

-Detroit is trying to unload more salary on teams with a trade exception or cap space, in order to get further under the cap for this summer’s free agent class. Walter Sharpe is one player mentioned often in a salary cap dump.

Update: 1:40 PM

A source with the New York Knicks tells us that they've acquired the #29 pick from the LA Lakers in exchange for 3 million dollars in cash.

More on that as it becomes available.

Update: 1:25 PM

17-30 “a total mess”

While much of our attention revolves around the lottery, we don’t want to forget about the rest of this draft, which is likely to be even more unpredictable. We’re touching base with a number of NBA teams sitting inside their war rooms on an hourly basis to figure out the latest, and it seems like we can expect quite a bit of movement to occur in the 17-30 range based on what we’re hearing.

“I’ve never seen a draft with so many loose ends this late in the game” one longtime observer told us this morning.

Multiple teams are trying to trade into the first round at the moment, with the most aggressive of them still being Houston, Miami and San Antonio. Another team that has begun to explore that option more thoroughly is Denver apparently. They could be in the hunt for a point guard, with the likes of Toney Douglas, Jeff Teague and possibly Darren Collison being their targets.

Picks that are potentially available include Oklahoma City (#25), Chicago (#26), Memphis (#27), Minnesota (#28) and the Los Angeles Lakers (#29). The going price will likely be cash.

Phoenix Trade Ramifications

It deserves mention at least once in this blog that “the Daddy” got traded and will be paired alongside Lebron James. That opens up a huge spot in Phoenix’s frontcourt, and likely pushes Amare Stoudemire back to the center position, where he really thrived playing alongside Shawn Marion, Boris Diaw and Steve Nash in Mike D’Antoni’s super up-tempo offense. Phoenix is clearly going back to their running ways next year, and will now likely target an athletic combo forward in the Diaw/Marion mold that can defend, rebound, pass and get up and down the floor. The most likely candidates appear to be Earl Clark and James Johnson, with Austin Daye being a long-shot at that spot.

There is still some talk that Phoenix will trade Oklahoma City the #14 pick in exchange for the #25 and the Suns’ unprotected 2010 first rounder the Thunder currently own. We have a hard time seeing Sam Presti make that deal, though, especially now that Phoenix decided to dump Shaq for financial considerations. The 2010 draft already looks much stronger than 2009, and Phoenix is one injury away from finding themselves in the lottery next season. We’d be very surprised if that happened.

Update: 12:45 PM

First, a recap of which picks have switched hands:

#5- Traded to Minnesota, from Washington, as part of Mike Miller/Randy Foye trade
#22- Traded to Portland, from Dallas, in exchange for the #24 and #56 picks, along with a 2010 second rounder
#24- Traded to Dallas, from Portland
#46- Traded to Phoenix, from Cleveland

The Draft Starts at 3

-Despite the assumptions many (including us) are making about Oklahoma City’s intentions to draft Ricky Rubio with the #3 pick, it feels a little early to be penciling him in definitively. Many NBA executives around the league feel that Sam Presti is broadcasting his intentions to take Rubio at 3 for the sole purpose of making teams drafting behind him step up with stronger trade offers to move up.

Presti has done a great job at keeping his cards close to the vest historically, as you would expect from a former San Antonio Spurs executive. Last year he surprised many by taking Russell Westbrook over Brook Lopez at #4, and this year he could very well resort back to the logical selection at #3—James Harden.

At the end of the day, Presti will likely pick the player that he feels is the best overall value in this draft, and deal with positional concerns later on.

What is Sacramento Thinking?

The situation in the Kings war room appears to be extremely fluid at the moment, with plenty of trade offers on their table for the #4 pick, and four point guards in the lead to be selected should they hold onto it. Ricky Rubio, Jonny Flynn, Tyreke Evans and Stephen Curry are the players they are looking at, even if they continue to say that James Harden is in the picture as well, likely in order to prevent Oklahoma City from feeling comfortable about moving down to #5 in a swap with Minnesota.

All teams we’ve spoken with have either Evans or Flynn at this spot, assuming that Rubio is selected by Oklahoma City at 3.

Sacramento’s pick will have huge ramifications on how the entire draft shakes out, and the situation here is being monitored by every other team in the lottery.

Should Flynn go 4th, New York would be ecstatic, since that means that one of Harden, Curry, Evans or Jordan Hill would be available at their pick, with the most likely being Evans, since he’s probably not a great fit next to Harden in Minnesota, and he didn’t work out in Golden State and probably isn’t even on the board there.

The Raptors are also on pins and needles waiting to see how things shake out, since they are trying to figure out whether or not their top target Jrue Holiday will be on the board at 9.

Jennings in the Mix for Milwaukee

With DeMar DeRozan on much shakier ground in Toronto (#9) than initially thought, there is a pretty legit possibility that he could be on the board at 10 when Milwaukee picks. Just days after trading an extremely athletic wing player in Richard Jefferson, you would assume that this would appear to be a perfect fit…Apparently not, though, since they seem to have their heart set on drafting a point guard, with Brandon Jennings being one player that Assistant GM Jeff Weltman seems to be especially fond of. We had Jennings slipping all the way to the #17 pick in our last mock draft, which would definitely make him the steal of the draft, but have moved him back up to #10…for now.